1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compressor having an internally mounted inverter and equipped with a safety apparatus.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2005-119746, and 2005-247604 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related At
In the coolant circuits of air-conditioners, a low temperature coolant which has been subjected to heat exchange by means of an internal heat exchanger or an external heat exchanger is compressed and output as a high temperature, high pressure gas coolant by a compressor, and circulated through the coolant circuit again.
Among these types of compressors, there are those that have, outside of the compressor mechanism which has an internally mounted motor, an inverter which controls the operation of the motor by controlling the voltage that is supplied to the motor.
An inverter supplies high voltage as the driving voltage for the motor. For example, in the compressors of air-conditioners used in automobiles, a voltage of the level of 310V is supplied to the inverter. For this reason, the electrically conducting parts of the inverter are housed within a casing, to prevent accidents due to electric shock from accidental contact.
In addition, in the inverter, a safety apparatus is provided so that during servicing, or the like, work is not done while the power is connected due to the worker forgetting to turn off the power, or the like.
As this type of safety apparatus, for example, the power supply breaking apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 6-6933, mentioned below, is known.
This power supply breaking apparatus has a power supply breaking means (a breaker) for cutting the power line in an abnormal situation, protective covers for protecting the terminals of the power line, a switch means for switching the power line on or off, in association with the removal or attachment of the protective covers, and a breaker drive means which cuts the power source line when the switch means is off.
This power supply breaking apparatus is configured such that when one of the protective covers is not attached, the breaker drive means caused the power supply breaking means to operate and the power supply line is cut off.
However, when the compressor mechanism is disassembled, the power conducting sections of the motor are exposed. In addition, when the inverter is supplied with electric power, there is the possibility that the motor may be operated unexpectedly while the compressor is in a disassembled state.
For this reason, conventionally, in compressors, it is necessary to provide a safety apparatus in both the inverter and the compressor mechanism, respectively, for cases in which the turning off of the power supply has been forgotten. This makes the structure of the compressor complex, and leads to increases in manufacturing costs.